I've surfed a behemoth in a 5ft 4in Hyperlite Broadcast behind a Tige 21i with no ballast for the past three years. Now with a new-to-us boat in the fleet, i'll finally have the opportunity to surf behind something other than a flat, white-wash of a wake... Fun nontheless though.

I'm the kind of guy where I prefer to 'do it once, do it right'. With that said though, i'm going into my first summer on a skim-style board, so would ya'll suggest playing it safe and giving the Doum a shot with it's excellent price point for a ballin'-on-a-budget college student, or should I save my pennies and go all in on a Phase 5/Inland Surfer. Other suggestions, or alternatives are welcomed. Thanks.

For good measures, I come in at a towering 5ft 7in, and 150lbs dripping wet.

In my mind the thing to consider is each of these board are built and composed of different materials. They differ in shape and attributes of those shapes to some extent, but they are all decidedly skim boards, except the f-boy which floats the imaginary boundary between skim and surf.

Doum is a friend and I love for him to sell boards which ideally puts a small amount of cash in his pocket (enough to buy a coffee). The LF Dom shares attributes of the skim board he and and worked on for his pro board under Shred Stixx, and attributes from other companies Doum has worked with over the year, like Calibrated. The price is hard to beat, but it is a pressure molded composite board. Which is a turn off to some and makes it considerably heavier than the other boards you are looking at.

The Inland KF is probably the most responsive of the 3. However, as a shaper, builder, designer, etc., I am probably more partial to the P5. The P5 is the only board on the list that is made in the USA (Florida), and they really do a good job of sourcing quality materials.

There are some custom skims out there, but in generally they are not manufacture in a suitable manner to hold up to the abuse of wake surfing.

Mitch out at Cal Marine Sports is probably your best bet for objective information on skim boards.

In my mind the thing to consider is each of these board are built and composed of different materials. They differ in shape and attributes of those shapes to some extent, but they are all decidedly skim boards, except the f-boy which floats the imaginary boundary between skim and surf.

Doum is a friend and I love for him to sell boards which ideally puts a small amount of cash in his pocket (enough to buy a coffee). The LF Dom shares attributes of the skim board he and and worked on for his pro board under Shred Stixx, and attributes from other companies Doum has worked with over the year, like Calibrated. The price is hard to beat, but it is a pressure molded composite board. Which is a turn off to some and makes it considerably heavier than the other boards you are looking at.

The Inland KF is probably the most responsive of the 3. However, as a shaper, builder, designer, etc., I am probably more partial to the P5. The P5 is the only board on the list that is made in the USA (Florida), and they really do a good job of sourcing quality materials.

There are some custom skims out there, but in generally they are not manufacture in a suitable manner to hold up to the abuse of wake surfing.

Mitch out at Cal Marine Sports is probably your best bet for objective information on skim boards.

Thanks for your response. It was quite informative, as to compared to what I know. I am leaning towards the LF Doum, mainly because price and I believe it's going to allow to me to do what I have in my mind. With that being said, as much as I would like to get a P5/I.S., I think I out to grasp the feel for skim style to see how far I want end up taking it. P5 might be a good baseline as the board I would want is only +$200 more, as compared to the I.S. that I would need to put a mortgage down payment on.

There is a somewhat local wake shop in my area, so I might venture down there and see if a demo is a possibility, and at the least, be able to see these boards with my own two eyes if they are in stock. Thanks again for your response.

take a look at the tripleX composite. They can be had for a great price and with their bamboo composite construcion they look pretty cool too. you can find them online for under $350 if you look around. They should be releasing a new and improved version soon too.

take a look at the tripleX composite. They can be had for a great price and with their bamboo composite construcion they look pretty cool too. you can find them online for under $350 if you look around. They should be releasing a new and improved version soon too.

trevor

Trevor,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look into their boards. I am really open to anything as I am new to skim-style.

I really like their boards but they pay me to say that . Honestly though its a great product for a great price. Aaron Witherall our pro skim rider took second at worlds last year riding one of these skim boards.

If you're looking for performance on a budget, you might give the P5 Prop a go. It's the skim the Danielo won two worlds with. it's pretty lightweight even though it's composite because it's only 3/4" inch thick. You could do worse for the $. Good luck.

I really like their boards but they pay me to say that . Honestly though its a great product for a great price. Aaron Witherall our pro skim rider took second at worlds last year riding one of these skim boards.

Of course, can't knock the hustle. I've seen a vid or two on that guy... he tears it up! and he' a PNW guy. Win-win.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WakePros

If you're looking for performance on a budget, you might give the P5 Prop a go. It's the skim the Danielo won two worlds with. it's pretty lightweight even though it's composite because it's only 3/4" inch thick. You could do worse for the $. Good luck.

Interesting. Thanks for throwing in this awesome suggestion. At $455, the price point is well within' reach. For about $100 more, I could get the '12 P5 Danielo Carbon for $580. Would the extra $125 be worthwhile to spring for a '12 Danielo? I'm guessing, and correct me if I'm wrong, this board will be lighter, shorter (51" vs. 54"), and something I wouldn't "grow" out of.

Aside from price, what all better does the Danielo do than the Doum Skim? I think I have narrowed it down between these two products and starting to lean towards the Danielo since it seems I would be getting a lot of board for pennies i'd pay.

After much deliberation, I went ahead and put in a order today for the 2012 51" P5 Danielo Pro Carbon board. From all the reviews I read, users were much satisfied from this board and found themselves progressing with the board and not growing out of it, which is something I desired. I ended up getting 10% off my purchase, as well as free shipping, that ended up sweetening the deal for me. I am stoked to say the least and will post up some pictures once it arrives. Thanks again everyone for information, suggestions, and 2 cents!

I found a IS Black Pearl (used) on line (Craigslist) for 150 bones last year! If your not sure what you want, I would look for a pre owned board.....

Man, that's a score. I've been scouring CList for the past two months looking used. Either nobody surfs in the PNW, or they sure like to hang onto their boards. I found a ShredStixx Piranha in Bend, but I was in search of a skim. Finally, exhausted with looking everyday on CL for a used board, I bought new.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyv420

You will be happy with the P5! Its fast and loose! Great skim board IMO!

Thank you. I made sure to do some homework and read the reviews and experiences of others before pulling the trigger. I was honestly set on a LF Doum, but I could see myself kicking myself in the pants if I didn't go with a P5 or Inland Surfer. Coupled with the purchase of the board, I also picked up a P5 board bag to keep my investment in optimal condition when not out on the water. The items should be coming next week... hopefully get out on the boat here soon!

I'm here in the PNW, where do you ride?? We ride American lake in Lakewood, by JBLM. Should be out on the water by April 15th!

Very nice. Sounds like you hail from Washington? I ride wherever the driver takes me! Primarily, we cruise a section of the Willamette in Newberg/Wilsonville, Lost Creek Reservoir (Near Crater Lake), Lake Billy Chinook (Central Oregon), and occasionally Detroit Lake (Cascade Mountains) if everyone and their mom are not there.

Update on the board. I got in touch with BoardCo, from where I order the '12 P5 Daniel Pro Carbon 51" from, and unfortunately there was a miscommunications of sorts which lead to the board being completely out of stock. Ready to dive into another search for a board, I was startled with the offer from BoardCo presented me shortly after delivering the daunting message: Upgrade to '13 Daniel Pro Carbon of your choice, for no additional charge. WHATTTTTTTTTT!?! Needless to say, BoardCo just gained a customer for life. I've never personally experienced a company step up and take care of a customer like that before, so big props to BoardCo. I ended up going with the '13 Daniel Pro Carbon Special Edition Alligator .

Both board & board bag have shipped. I'm taking my last final for Spring Term and then Spring Break! I ended up making a mistake on having the board bag shipped to my apartment, which I will be leaving here shortly for home, so hopefully it'll here in time. Anywho, both BoardCo & Slayshtank provided excellent customer service so thumbs up for those guys!

Try increasing the speed. I find best goofy side riding between 10.5 and 11.2 on my Enzo 216 hull which is closer to the VTX hull than the deep V Enzo's.

It was weird. When getting up into the mid 10s, the wave become very mush, almost unrideable. There were only two people sitting in the boat and were not sitting driver side. I'll try to increase next time again and see if I could get some video. Thanks for the suggestion!

Quote:

Originally Posted by WakeDirt

Speed up and maybe ditch a bit of bow weight, test that, sometimes it takes a bit to dial, especially in the spring when you only have 1 or 2 peeps.

Yeah, from what it seems, it looks like it'll take some dialing. I've seen others VTX wake and appears to be not as much wash as there was in the video. Thanks for dropping by though.

It seems as though I was going pretty slow, so just trying to figure a way to cruise around 10.6+ mph. The PO set this VTX specifically for surfing. There is an absolute HUGE custom Fly High on port side that is 1500 lbs (Locker and under seats). When we demo'd the boat, he was up at 10.4 mph and that thing is throwing an absolute beautiful wake for a regular rider... it's Bobby Bright's (Malibu Crew) old VTX. I think maybe adding a 400 on the cooler for goofy riding may be the way to go, especially if there are only 1 or 2 additional people in the boat besides driver.

which direction where you moving in that video, upstream or downstream and did you try turning around and going the other way?

We surf on the Columbia and spend a lot of time adjusting speed between upstream and downstream travel especially using GPS based speed control. I will typically use 11mph as a baseline and add or subtract 2mph depending on direction to correct for the speed of the river and then make very minor adjustments from there..

the other thing you might try as I think others have suggested is dropping some of the bow weight. you may wind up with a little shorter wave but will probably loos a lot of that prop wash.

all FWIW, IMHO of course.

BTW... that board you got looks awesome!.. I like how that raised ridge runs all the way down the middle.. seems like you would get great grip with that

which direction where you moving in that video, upstream or downstream and did you try turning around and going the other way?

We surf on the Columbia and spend a lot of time adjusting speed between upstream and downstream travel especially using GPS based speed control. I will typically use 11mph as a baseline and add or subtract 2mph depending on direction to correct for the speed of the river and then make very minor adjustments from there..

the other thing you might try as I think others have suggested is dropping some of the bow weight. you may wind up with a little shorter wave but will probably loos a lot of that prop wash.

all FWIW, IMHO of course.

BTW... that board you got looks awesome!.. I like how that raised ridge runs all the way down the middle.. seems like you would get great grip with that

Russ,

Yes, Willamette @ Newberg.

In this video, I am heading upstream (not with the current) in the Willamette. I never really thought of this variable (current direction) playing a role in the product of the wake... very good observation there and am now aware of. Thanks. Next time out, i'll try and get pops to only fill bow tank 1/2 to 3/4 full and see how it is. At this point, any suggestions/opinions are freely welcomed. I feel as if the wake can be improved, so tweaking and dialing will just come as part of the process.

The P5 board is awesome. It is so much different than the 5' 4" Hyperlite Broadcast I have surfed these last three years. It's like I've got to get my sea legs under me, as this board likes to dance. This is just what I wanted though, as when I pump there is mucho response. Grip is great, really like the raised surface right down the middle of the traction pads. Can't wait to get out on the board again!

Out and about yesterday up in Portland. It was great to get out on the water. Surf wave is mush here-and-there, but at times shows potential of producing a consistent, clean wake. In order to achieve that, I think additional sacs are needed; one under the seats where the factory cooler is, another V-Drive sac on top of seats above cooler, and another V-Drive sac in the front bow, but that's just what came to my mind.P5 Danielo Pro Carbon: Second time out using the P5. I'm liking the P5 Danielo board. It certainly creates a new challenge and I feel as if I just started wakesurfing for the very first time. The board is very "loose", yet very responsive and fast. I still find myself adjusting my feet on the board, just because it's a whole 'nother sensation with a shorter, skim style board. Going from a 5' 4" Broadcast to a 4'2" Danielo is a massive difference, but i'm really enjoying this board and have no buyers-remorse about it. I had a great time and just fortunate to have the opportunity to get out on the water! Few pics.
Mushier:
WW reppin'.

Weather sure has been cooperating here with us in the Pacific Northwest. We are usually accustomed to 60s with inconsistent sun coming in May, but have had the delight of several 80 degree days. I think we finally figured out how to put of the best weight with the VTX, so needless to say we had an absolute blast. I've been trying to get nail down surface 360s... anybody care to critique and shoot some advice this way? Thanks guys!

You're getting really close on the 3's and shoe-its! You and I seem to be on the same skill level. I've been close to getting a few 3's but I still end up washing out. I'm finding out that since I'm still new to the sport, fin size is a big factor in how I ride that day. I have one that's a skim fin and one that's not nearly as big as surf fin but still a little larger and sharper than a skim fin. When using my skim fin, I over rotate my spins just like you did in your "Malibu Wakesetter '10 VLX surf. GoPro HD Hero 2." video. The video below is me using the larger fin. It tracks easier which gets me moving faster, and causes me to wash out less, but it's hard to shove-it (never landed one), and my 3's can be tricky as well: (First 360 attempt is around 0:48)

You're getting really close on the 3's and shoe-its! You and I seem to be on the same skill level. I've been close to getting a few 3's but I still end up washing out. I'm finding out that since I'm still new to the sport, fin size is a big factor in how I ride that day. I have one that's a skim fin and one that's not nearly as big as surf fin but still a little larger and sharper than a skim fin. When using my skim fin, I over rotate my spins just like you did in your "Malibu Wakesetter '10 VLX surf. GoPro HD Hero 2." video. The video below is me using the larger fin. It tracks easier which gets me moving faster, and causes me to wash out less, but it's hard to shove-it (never landed one), and my 3's can be tricky as well: (First 360 attempt is around 0:48)

Nice video. I've seen some of your posts on TMC and you've got a nice wave for an older VLX. Thanks for the suggestions. I've actually been looking into buying a larger, 2" fin to see the difference. Heck, it's only $24 so why not. Good riding and keep it up man!